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Friday, March 22, 2013

Conservatism Equals Fascism

A story by David Edwards at Rawstory.com,"Texas Tea Party Leader Promotes Fascist Party As 'Pro-Constitution, Pro-America,’" takes us back to the much-repeated comparison between Republicans (Conservatives) and Fascists:

"A tea party leader in Texas is defending his promotion of the American Fascist Party as something he thought was “pro-Constitution, pro-America.”

"In the video, a man who looks like Ives sits in front of a Fascist Party logo wearing a uniform with yellow shoulder patches. Another photo shows a uniformed man sitting in front of a fascist cross. The blog that inspired Norwegian mass shooter Anders Behring Breivik describes fascist solar crosses as 'symbolic representations buried deep in the regions of the brain where the primal responses to stimuli are rage, awe, and fear.'

"The tea party leader claimed that he his participation in the Fascist Party was part of an effort to write a novel about what he thought was a cabal. But instead of writing that novel, Ives wrote on the message board about how building the Fascist Party in America was 'our spirit, our calling.'”
Brandon at Sodahead.com tells us in his piece, "Why Republicans are Fascist.......":
"The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism

"1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism

"Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

"Republicans consider themselves EXTREMELY patriotic, hell if you disagree with them you will hear, 'You are un-patriotic.'

"2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights

"Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of 'need.' The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

"Republicans see torture as an ends to a mean, they have enacted laws that allow for violations of the fourth amendment and illegal wire tapping. That shutting things down like the Occupy wall street rally even though it violates the constitution as a justified need. That detaining prisoners of war indefinitely is a good thing and have even changed the word of terrorist to include 'home grown' terrorist.

"3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause

"The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

"I am pretty sure you have heard the ruse Republicans have raised against people, you commie, you socialist, you homo, you Atheist. Also,Sadam Hussein is a horrible dictator, We must invade an entire country to capture one man (afganistan) even though none of the terrorist came from either of these countries, but were funded by the likes of Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.

"4. Supremacy of the Military

"Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

"Enough said in this explanation.

"5. Rampant Sexism"The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

"Once again, holy shit enough said!

"6. Controlled Mass Media"Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

"You may say that the media is controlled by liberal, however the MSM is controlled by extremely large corporations which fund.......Republicans and cause widespread mis-information.

"7. Obsession with National Security"Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

"As I said the corporate controlled media spread horrendous amounts of mis-information, such as they did with death panels, the war (weapons of mass destruction anyone?)

"8. Religion and Government are Intertwined"Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed
to the government's policies or actions.

"Damn, once again enough said.

"9. Corporate Power is Protected

"The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

"I don't even have to say anything......

"10. Labor Power is Suppressed

"Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

"Well, we all know about those socialist and communist teachers, firefighters and police officers in Wisconsin. Especially the fact the right HATES unions.

"11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts"Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

"Creationism in schools, The scientific studies of homosexuality in nature have been called propaganda by the right. College teachers are being called communist and it's now referred to as 'liberal education' that is ruining America.

"12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment"Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

"Police brutality and illegal actions by cops are often defended by the right as justified. "They are protecting us." TSA, Homeland security, the patriot act, Law enforcement has unprecedented power, they are now trained as paramilitary troops as opposed to peace keepers, driving around with military boots and ready to knock in your house with APC's and shoot you with military grade weapons on a moments notice. Wrong house? Oops, I am sure they will get a slap on the wrist. They are protecting you.

"13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption

Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

"I think this runs on both sides, however the right is more profound in their openness about their connections with powerful elite orginizations. Mitt Romney ring a bell?

"14. Fraudulent Elections"Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

"The use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries. This has happened in the primaries this year, to be exact.

On a more serious note, Carla Binion's essay at Bartcop.com, "Nazis and the Republican Party," spells out a bit of history for us:

"Investigative reporter Christopher Simpson says in BLOWBACK that after World War II, Nazi émigrés were given CIA subsidies to build a far-right-wing power base in the U.S. These Nazis assumed prominent positions in the Republican Party's 'ethnic outreach committees.' Simpson documents the fact that these Nazis did not come to America as individuals but as part of organized groups with fascist political agendas. The Nazi agenda did not die along with Adolf Hitler. It moved to America (or a part of it did) and joined the far right of the Republican Party.

"Simpson shows how the State Department and the CIA put high-ranking Nazis on the intelligence payroll 'for their expertise in propaganda and psychological warfare,' among other purposes. The most important Nazi employed by the U.S. was Reinhard Gehlen, Hitler's most senior eastern front military intelligence officer. After Germany's defeat became certain, Gehlen offered the U.S. certain concessions in exchange for his own protection. Gehlen promoted hyped up cold war propaganda on behalf of the political right in this country, and helped shape U.S. perceptions of the cold war.

"Journalist Russ Bellant (OLD NAZIS, THE NEW RIGHT, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY) shows that Laszlo Pasztor, a convicted Nazi war collaborator, built the Republican émigré network. Pasztor, who served as adviser to Republican Paul Weyrich, belonged to the Hungarian Arrow Cross, a group that helped liquidate Hungary's Jews. Pasztor was founding chairman of the Republican Heritage Groups Council.

"Two months before the November 1988 presidential election, a small newspaper, Washington Jewish Week, disclosed that a coalition for the Bush campaign included a number of outspoken Nazis and anti-Semites. The article prompted six leaders of Bush's coalition to resign.

"According to Russ Bellant, Nazi collaborators involved in the Republican Party included:

"1. Radi Slavoff, GOP Heritage Council's executive director, and head of "Bulgarians for Bush." Slavoff was a member of a Bulgarian fascist group, and he put together an event in Washington honoring Holocaust
denier, Austin App.

"2. Florian Galdau, director of GOP outreach efforts among Romanians, and head of "Romanians for Bush."
Galdau was once an Iron Guard recruiter, and he defended convicted Nazi war criminal Valerian Trifa.

"The Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article on the Bush team's inclusion of Nazis (David Lee Preston, 'Fired Bush backer one of several with possible Nazi links,' September 10, 1988.) The newspaper also ran an investigative series on Nazi members of the Bush coalition. The article confirmed that the Bush team included members listed by Russ Bellant.

"Journalist Martin A. Lee, has written for The Nation, Rolling Stone, The San Francisco Chronicle, and other
publications. In THE BEAST REAWAKENS, Lee confirms that during both the Reagan and Bush years, the Republican Party's ethnic outreach arm recruited members from the Nazi émigré network.

"Lee says that the Republican Party's ethnic outreach division had an outspoken hatred of President Jimmy
Carter's Office of Special Investigations (OSI), an organization dedicated to tracking down and prosecuting Nazi war collaborators who entered this country illegally. Former Republican Pat Buchanan attacked Carter's OSI after it deported a few suspected Nazi war criminals.

"According to Lee, public relations man Harold Keith Thompson was principal U.S. point man for the postwar Nazi support network known as die Spinne, or the Spider. In the late 40s and early 50s, Thompson worked as the chief North American representative for the remaining National Socialist German Worker's Party and the SS. Lee writes that the wealthy Thompson gave generously to Republican candidates Senator Jesse Helms and would-be senator Oliver North. Thompson's money gained him membership in the GOP's Presidential Legion of Merit. Lee says Thompson also 'received numerous thank-you letters from the Republican National Committee.' Those letters are now in the Hoover Institute Special Collections Library.

"Christopher Simpson writes in BLOWBACK that in 1983, Ronald Reagan presented a Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor, to CIA émigré program consultant James Burnham. Burnham was a
psychological warfare consultant who promoted something called "liberationism." Just before the 1952 election, the CIA worked up a multimillion-dollar public relations campaign aimed at selling Americans on expanding cold war activities in Europe. Part of the guiding theory (given the name "liberationism") was the idea that certain Nazi leaders from World War II should be brought in as "freedom fighters" against the USSR.

"Reagan said that Burnham's ideas on liberation 'profoundly affected the way America views itself and the
world,' adding, 'I owe [Burnham] a personal debt, because throughout the years of traveling on the
mashed-potato circuit I have quoted [him] widely.' Reagan may not have known Burnham's theories were
based on his work on projects that enlisted many Nazi collaborators, but it seems that Reagan's CIA Director Casey or former CIA Director, Vice President George Bush, would have informed him.

"At a May 9, 1984 press conference, Simon Wiesenthal said, 'Nazi criminals were the principal beneficiaries of the Cold War.' The cold war mentality, hyped by Reinhard Gehlen and other Nazis, became the shelter for tens of thousands of Nazi criminals. Helping the far right in this country to promote cold war hysteria became the Nazi war criminals 'reason for being.' As Christopher Simpson says, the cold war became those criminals' means 'to avoid responsibility for the murders they had committed.'

"Journalist Seymour Hersh says Christopher Simpson's BLOWBACK is 'the ultimate book about the worst
kind of cold war thinking, in which some of our most respected statesmen made shameful decisions that they
mistakenly believed to be justified.' To this day, says Simpson, the U.S. intelligence agencies hide the scope of their post-World War II collaboration with Nazi criminals.

"Are Republicans like George H. W. Bush, Oliver North, and Jesse Helms, aware they have been assisted by Nazi collaborators? Bush once worked for the CIA and should have known about the nature of the Nazis in his '88 campaign. No doubt he knows the history of Nazi/CIA collaboration. Whether or not Bush knew of the fascists' involvement in his campaign, the Republican Party should have done a far better screening job. One thing is certain: The intelligence agencies know the scope and extent of Nazi involvement with the political right in this country. It is a shame they keep it hidden from the majority of the American people."

And one more thing is certain: the ties between Nazi Germany and the Bush Famile - see "Looking Behind The Bushes, Great Moments In A Great American Family," at http://prorev.com/bush2.htm.

This writer took a trip to Dallas in the mid-60s to see what kind people would kill our President in such a cowardly way (Kennedy's advisors warned him that if there was any place that someone would attempt an assassination, it was Dallas), and bumped into the leader of CUSA - "Conservatism USA" - who then tried to proselytize him.

Larry Shmidt, the founder and leader of CUSA, formed the organization after an army stint in West Germany, where he studied Hitler and read Mein Kampf to formulate the aims of CUSA, and was funded by the John Birch Society and other Conservative moneybags.

After the assassination, when the Nation became familiar with the infamous flyer, Schmidt's backers ran away from him as fast as they could, but you can see what part he played in the Fascist-Conservative movement here --> http://www.maebrussell.com/Mae%20Brussell%20Articles/Nazi%20Connection%20to%20JFK%20Assass.html.

Murder, theft, treason, and human misery are the calling cards of Conservatism, and only the criminalization of Conservatism will stop future depredations upon the People.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"A liberal education is at the heart of a civil society, and at the heart of a liberaleducation is the act of teaching."

A. Bartlett Giamatti (President of Yale University and later the seventhCommissioner of Major League Baseball. 1938 – 1989)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------